State Spy Agents Interfering With Corruption Investigations

The organisation’s Executive Director Mary Jane Ncube, told RadioVOP that powerful politicians and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) have threatened the organisation over the past two weeks. She however refused to reveal the names of those threatening her, for fear of victimisation.

“We have received threats from high profile civil servants and politicians who want to stop us from carrying out investigations in the public service – where we have received a number of tip-offs pertaining to corrupt activities including the issue ghost workers,” said Ms Ncube.

Ncube said since the formation of the inclusive government in February, her organisation has received thousands of corruption reports mainly from the Reserve bank and the public service.

“People now feel free to report corruption since the inclusive government came on board, because they had been for a long time living in fear,” added Ncube.

Reports indicate that the public service has thousands of ghost workers who are costing the bankrupt government a lot of money. Donors are reported to have called for an audit in the public service if they are to fund civil servants salaries.

Transparent International Zimbabwe was launched 12 years ago but has not been very effective owing to government’s interference in the operations of Non-Governmental Organisations.

The Ministry of Education recently unearthed massive corruption by the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council, ZIMSEC, after hundreds of ghost markers found their way on the examination markers list forwarded to Minister David Coltart, forcing him to amend the list and delay the payment of markers.

In an interview with RadioVOP, Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)’s national treasurer Laudious Zunde, said Coltart revealed in a stakeholders meeting held Tuesday, that the examination payment schedule forwarded to him by ZIMSEC had a lot of irregularities and he had ordered a thorough audit before disbursing payments.

Zunde said some markers names were listed more than once under different identification numbers and that an emended schedule had to be resubmitted to the minister.